JP2013132788A - Ribbon separator and dot line printer using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent soiling by an ink ribbon, and prevent a printing paper from being caught in the holes of a ribbon separator, and also, greatly secure the hammering force of each printing element in order to improve copying density of a copying paper, while including such properties that the traveling performance of the ink ribbon is not damaged due to the edges of the holes of the ribbon separator.SOLUTION: Each hole of the ribbon separator is formed to have a nearly diamond shape such that the hole has a predetermined horizontal width in the arraying direction of a plurality of adjacent printing elements so that the printing elements can be inserted, and also, the vertical width in the center area in the arraying direction is larger than the vertical width in the end area.

Description

  The present invention relates to a ribbon separator used in a dot line printer that performs printing in a dot matrix format by using a plurality of printing elements arranged in the digit direction.

  A dot line printer is a typical printing apparatus that performs dot printing. The dot line printer includes a step of printing on a printing paper by hitting the printing paper via an ink ribbon every time the printing element is driven in a timely manner in the process of reciprocating movement in the arrangement direction (hereinafter referred to as a digit direction), and a printing element. The printer prints characters, figures and the like in a dot matrix format by repeating the process of transporting the printing paper in the digit direction and the vertical direction by the transport tractor when the reciprocal movement of the paper is reversed.

  In this dot line printer, in order to prevent the ink ribbon ink from being transferred to the printing paper, as shown in FIG. 4, it corresponds to the position corresponding to the printing portion (printing pin) of the printing element 41 on a one-to-one basis. A ribbon separator 46 provided with a hole 48 having a diameter of about 2.0 mm is disposed.

  With regard to the hole shape of the conventional ribbon separator, the hole diameter is increased so as to cover a plurality of printing elements in order to realize high-speed printing, prevent ink smear due to running of the ink ribbon, and improve running characteristics of printing paper. The thing (patent document 1) or the thing (patent document 2) which enlarges the width | variety of a digit direction and makes it a long hole is proposed.

  However, these hole shapes have the following problems.

  First, when the hole diameter is increased so as to cover a plurality of printing elements, high-speed printing is realized, but ink smearing due to running of the ink ribbon is likely to occur.

  In addition, when a long hole shape with a narrower width in the girder direction is used, the running performance of the printing paper is improved, but in the printing of copy paper, which is a feature of the dot line printer, the width in the direction perpendicular to the girder direction of the ribbon separator. Since the reaction force (tension) from the ink ribbon received by the printing element increases due to the narrowing of the printing element, and the striking force of the printing element is reduced, there is a problem that the copy density is reduced. Copy density is one of the important factors in the printing quality of dot printers, and improving this is essential for improving the quality of dot line printers.

  As one method for improving the copy density, changing the hole diameter, hole shape, etc. of the ribbon separator can be considered. However, for example, when the hole diameter and hole shape are changed as described above, problems such as ink stains, paper catching, and a reduction in impact strength have occurred.

  Therefore, the problem of the present invention is that the ink ribbon is not soiled or the printing paper is caught in the hole of the ribbon separator, and the runnability of the ink ribbon is not impaired by the edge of the hole of the ribbon separator. In the above, in order to improve the copy density of the copy paper, it is to secure a large striking force of the printing element.

  In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, a plurality of adjacent printing elements can be inserted in a ribbon separator that is used by being attached to a dot line printer that drives a plurality of printing elements to perform printing in a dot matrix format. The plurality of substantially rhombus-shaped holes having a predetermined lateral width in the arrangement direction of the printing elements and having a vertical width in the central region in the arrangement direction larger than a vertical width in the end region. It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention, the holes of the ribbon separator are made larger (about 10 to 20%) than before so that there is no stain due to ink, and the holes for a plurality of printing elements are connected, and Ink for the printing element is formed by expanding the hole width in the center to about 1.5 to 2 times in the direction perpendicular to the girder direction, and making it a rhombus smoothly connected with a straight line from the holes at both ends, or a similar shape hole. The reaction force (tension) of the ribbon can be reduced, the striking force of the printing element received by the platen during actual use can be ensured, and the copy density of the copy paper can be improved. In addition, in paper travel, there is no part parallel to the girder direction in the long hole of the ribbon separator, that is, there is no part perpendicular to the paper transport direction, eliminating the problem that the print paper 4 is caught on the edge of the ribbon separator. Paper damage.

The front view which shows the ribbon separator which becomes an example of this invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the reaction force of the ink ribbon and the striking force of the printing element in the ribbon separator of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing an example of a dot line printer. The front view which shows the ribbon separator of the conventional dot printer. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of a dot line printer. Explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the reaction force of the ink ribbon in the ribbon separator of this invention, and the striking force of a printing element (other example).

  First, the configuration of the dot line printer used in the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The hammer bank 2 provided with a drive mechanism for driving the printing element 1 reciprocates in the digit direction by a shuttle mechanism portion (not shown).

  The hammer bank 2 is disposed in a state where the ink ribbon 3 and the printing paper 4 are sandwiched therebetween and opposed to the platen 5 extending in the digit direction to support the printing force, and the hammer bank 2 is arranged in the digit direction (A Each time the printing element 1 is driven timely while reciprocating in the direction), characters, figures, etc. are printed on the printing paper 4 in a dot matrix format. The printing paper 4 is a continuous paper having perforations at regular intervals, and the printing paper 4 is wound around the platen 5 with a predetermined incident angle and outgoing angle with respect to the platen 5 at an appropriate time when the hammer bank 2 is reversed. In this state, the paper feed mechanism 14 transports the paper by the tractor 7 in the paper transport direction (B direction) orthogonal to the digit direction.

  A platen paper guide 14 for maintaining the incident angle of the printing paper 4 is arranged on the upstream side of the platen 5 in the paper conveyance direction. The printing paper 4 is pressed against the platen paper guide 14 while the printing paper 4 is sandwiched and rubs against the printing paper 4. A friction plate 15 for applying force is provided. Normally, the friction plate 15 is formed of a thin plate having a thickness of about 0.06 mm, and the entire width (about 12 inches at maximum) of the printing paper 4 is pressed on the entire surface to add paper tension between the friction plate 15 and the tractor 7. The printing paper 4 faces the load caused by the striking of the printing element 1 and the reciprocating motion in the digit direction, and the printing paper 4 is held so as not to be shaken in the digit direction.

  Usually, in such a dot line printer, the gap between the printing element 1 and the platen 5 is managed with an accuracy of about 10 μm in order to make the striking force of the printing element 1 and the time required for striking substantially constant. Yes.

  A ribbon separator 6 is installed between the ink ribbon 3 and the printing paper 4, and a hole through which the tip (printing pin 1a) of the printing element 1 having a diameter of at least about 0.4 mm passes is provided. As a result, the ink ribbon 3 is in contact with the printing paper 4 outside the printing area of the printing element 1 to cover the printing paper 4 so that ink stains do not occur.

  FIG. 1 shows a ribbon separator 6 as an example of the present invention.

  The hole 8 of the ribbon separator 6 is a long hole having a predetermined lateral width in the arrangement direction of the printing elements so that a plurality of adjacent printing elements 1 can be inserted. In this example, two adjacent printing elements 1 are connected to form a long hole. Further, the vertical width of the central region of the long hole is made larger than the vertical width of the end region so that the printing paper is not hindered so that the hole 8 has a rhombus shape or a similar shape. Further, the corners of the rhombus in the end region and the central region are rounded so as to be rounded.

  Note that the diameter of the hole of the ribbon separator having the conventional configuration is about 2.0 mm with respect to the tip of the printing element 1 having a diameter of about 0.4 mm. As in the conventional case, the vertical width of the central region is widened to about 1.5 to 2 times the hole diameter. Further, the vertical width of the end region may be increased by 1 to 20% from the conventional size. The reason is that even if the size of the hole is increased by about 10 to 20%, there is no possibility that the hole is connected to the adjacent hole.

  In this way, by forming the shape in which the holes of the adjacent ribbon separators are connected, the reaction force (tension) 11 of the ink ribbon 3 is reduced when the printing element 1 is hit as shown in FIG. Therefore, it is possible to improve the copy density during actual use. Here, the printing element 1 shown in FIG. 2 is not driven at the same time by performing shift drive control so that adjacent printing elements 1 do not strike at the same time. The reaction force (tension) 11 caused by the ink ribbon 3 is constant for all the printing elements. In this example, only the reaction force (tension) on one side of the printing element 1 is relaxed, but the total reaction force in the striking direction is alleviated as a total, which is higher than that of the conventional ribbon separator. Large striking power can be secured.

  And, as in the present invention, by making the hole of the ribbon separator into a quasi-diamond-shaped oblong hole, the straight line in the digit direction of the paper edge of the printing paper or the connecting part of the printing paper and the side of the ribbon separator in the digit direction Can prevent the phenomenon that the end or connecting part of the printing paper is caught in the hole of the ribbon separator, and can ensure a large impact force of the printing element while avoiding adverse effects on running. It becomes possible. In other words, the hole shape of the present invention has a sufficient distance from the printing element in the vertical and horizontal directions and has no edge parallel to the girder direction, and thus has a shape that does not hinder paper travel. It has become.

  When three printing elements are connected to form one elongated hole, as shown in FIG. 6, the reaction force (tension) 11 of the ink ribbon 3 acting on the printing element 1 at both ends is as described above. In the meantime, the printing element 1 in the middle (central part) is smaller than the reaction force (tension) of the ink ribbon 3 acting on the printing element 1 located at both ends, and a larger striking force can be secured. Here, considering the adverse effect on the printing paper due to the increased striking force, the printing paper 4 is sandwiched between the platen 5 and the ink ribbon 3, and the possibility is extremely low, similar to the printing paper. Since there is no edge perpendicular to the ink ribbon running direction, there is no adverse effect on the running performance of the ink ribbon.

  In this example, the rhombus shape is used. However, the paper traveling property can be ensured even when the vertical width is increased only in the forward direction of paper conveyance and the vertical width in the reverse direction is not increased.

  Reference numeral 1 denotes a printing element, 2 denotes a hammer bank, 3 denotes an ink ribbon, 4 denotes printing paper, 5 denotes a platen, 6 denotes a ribbon separator, 7 denotes a tractor, and 12 denotes an edge in the girder direction of a long hole of the ribbon separator.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 03-86571 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-166451

Claims (5)

In ribbon separators that are used by attaching to a dot line printer that drives multiple printing elements and prints in a dot matrix format,
A substantially horizontal width in the arrangement direction of the printing elements so that a plurality of adjacent printing elements can be inserted, and the vertical width of the central area in the arrangement direction is larger than the vertical width of the end area. A ribbon separator having a plurality of rhombus-shaped holes.   The ribbon separator according to claim 1, wherein a vertical width of the central region is 1.5 to 2 times a vertical width of the end region.   The ribbon separator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein corners of the rhombus have a round shape. In ribbon separators that are used by attaching to a dot line printer that drives multiple printing elements and prints in a dot matrix format,
A substantially horizontal width in the arrangement direction of the printing elements so that a plurality of adjacent printing elements can be inserted, and the vertical width of the central area in the arrangement direction is larger than the vertical width of the end area. A ribbon separator having a plurality of triangular holes. A hammer bank configured by arranging a plurality of printing elements each having a printing pin at a leading edge at a predetermined pitch in the digit direction, a shuttle mechanism unit that reciprocates the hammer bank in the digit direction, a paper feed mechanism that conveys printing paper, In order to support the printing force of the printing element, the dot line printer has a platen disposed opposite to the printing element via an ink ribbon and printing paper, and prints characters, figures, etc. in a dot matrix format. And
5. A dot line printer comprising the ribbon separator according to claim 1 disposed between the ink ribbon and the printing paper.

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